The Great Dictator (Blu-ray) Criterion Collection

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All Rise...

Judge Clark Douglas once dressed as Charlie Chaplin for Halloween; easily the most misinterpreted costume at the party.

The Charge

Chaplin talks…while you laugh!

Opening Statement

"We've just discovered the most wonderful, the most marvelous poisonous
gas. It will kill everybody."

Facts of the Case

In the distinctively German-like fictional nation of Tomania, a distinctively
Hitler-like dictator named Adenoid Hynkel (Charlie Chaplin, City Lights) has risen to power. Ruling
his country with an iron fist and encouraging the oppression of the Jewish
people, Hynkel has become one of the most feared men in the world despite his
cartoonish persona. Most Tomanian Jews are living in constant fear, but a Jewish
barber (also played by Chaplin) has been in the hospital since WWI and is
oblivious to the horrors that his people are now forced to deal with. Slowly but
surely, the barber begins to discover the terrible ways in which his country has
changed. Coincidentally, the barber happens to look almost exactly like Hynkel,
leading to a comic mix-up of epic proportions.

The Evidence

If you've seen much of Charlie Chaplin's silent work, you'll understand why
the notion of Chaplin doing a "talkie" was a very peculiar one indeed.
Chaplin wasn't merely an artist who made the most of working without sound; he
was an artist whose talents were amplified by the lack of sound. As such,
Chaplin insisted on continuing to work in silent film even when almost everyone
else had abandoned that realm of cinema. His masterful Modern Times does include some sound
effects, singing and even dialogue, but it remains a silent film in spirit.
Still, something had to give eventually if the beloved comedian wanted to
continue working in his chosen field.

Enter 1940's The Great Dictator, Chaplin's first honest-to-goodness
talking picture. That would be the lead story if the film had been a traditional
Chaplin comedy, but the sound factor was only one of the ways in which the
picture was a change-of-pace for Chaplin. The film is undoubtedly best-known as
one of the earliest mainstream motion pictures to launch an unreserved comic
attack on Adolf Hitler. While doing such satirical attacks became commonplace
during the later years of WWII (I've heard countless radio shows from the
early-to-mid-'40s offering cheerfully silly portraits of the German dictator),
Chaplin's film was being made at a time when attacking Hitler was regarded as
making a very risky, controversial political statement.

Despite early warnings that his film would not receive support or
distribution in many parts of the world, Chaplin was determined to expose the
popular dictator as both a villain and a joke. His cheerfully silly portrait of
Hitler…er, Hynkel…achieves the tricky task of humiliating the man
without ignoring or dismissing his capability for evil and destruction. Hitler
the political leader must be battled with unrelenting vigor, but that doesn't
mean we can't laugh at the over-the-top ridiculousness of Hitler the man. The
approach proved more striking and effective than a traditional propaganda film
would have been. It is one thing to say that a man is a monster, for even
monsters can be effective and efficient. It is another thing entirely to say
that a man is an incompetent, impotent, bumbling clown.

It's fascinating to observe the manner in which Chaplin tweaks his comedic
sensibilities in his performance as Hynkel. Chaplin endured many humiliations as
The Little Tramp (and endures a few more as the Jewish barber, who may or may
not actually be the Tramp), but the humor in those situations was immensely
empathetic and tender. The physical humiliations Chaplin puts Hynkel through
(such as when the dictator trips and falls down a flight of stairs) are similar
in technicality but vastly different in tone; there's a gleeful and entirely
justifiable mean streak in these moments. The early public perception of Hitler
was that he was a strong, commanding figure; Chaplin takes all of Hitler's
distinctive physical traits and transforms him into an amusingly pompous ass.
Surprisingly, Chaplin's verbal comedy is nearly as strong as his physical comedy
at times, particularly when he launches into his faux-German tirades (casually
slipping phrases like "der sauerkraut" and "cheese und
crackers!" into his harsh, sputtering gibberish before transforming his
verbal spewings into a series of glorified coughs).

Even if The Great Dictator isn't as consistently funny as Chaplin's
best efforts (stretches of the film are curiously middling when you consider
what a perfectionist Chaplin was), the film is indeed an entertaining effort.
Still, it is not admired and talked about because it's one of the funniest
comedies of all time, but simply for the fact that The Great Chaplin was
actually willing to apply wild slapstick comedy to a cinematic takedown of Adolf
Hitler. Any doubts that the film is first and foremost a message movie are put
to rest by the conclusion, in which Chaplin takes a few minutes to speechify in
front of the camera. It's easily the most hotly-debated portion of the film,
with some finding it a surprisingly moving finish (director Sidney Lumet claimed
it brought him to tears) and others finding it a tacky addition (critic David
Thompson has described it as, "embarrassing," a notion quite a few
other critics have echoed). While I don't exactly feel the speech is an
embarrassment, I do think it's unnecessary. The film has made such statements
already in more effective ways; having Chaplin spell things out for us dampens
the overall effect. Still, the speech was immensely important to Chaplin, who
defended it vigorously and eloquently in a New York Times editorial included
with this set.

The Great Dictator marches onto Blu-ray sporting a very respectable
1080p/Full Frame transfer. The level of detail is pristine throughout, allowing
the viewer to fully appreciate Chaplin's eye for clever visual design and sight
gags. Black levels are impressively deep and the film's natural grain structure
is left intact. There's little evidence of any significant tampering and very
few scratches or flecks are present. Audio is also sturdy, with rather clean,
crisp dialogue and a melancholic musical score (by Chaplin and Meridith Wilson)
which comes through smoothly even if it's slightly lacking in strength at times.
The sound design of the film isn't very complex, but everything is sturdy.

The history, context and making of The Great Dictator are as
fascinating as the film itself, and thankfully Criterion has included some
high-quality supplements for viewers to dig through. First up is an engaging,
informative audio commentary by author Dan Kamin and film historian Hooman
Mehran, both of whom have all sorts of fascinating tidbits to offer. For a
leaner but equally compelling overview of the film's creation, check out the
55-minute 2001 documentary "The Tramp and the Dictator." Narrated by
Kenneth Branagh and featuring comments from a host of historians, critics and
filmmakers, it's a compelling (if faintly hyperbolic) watch. Next up are two
visual essays: "Chaplin's Napoleon" (20 minutes) from archivist
Cecelia Cenciarelli and "The Clown Turns Prophet" (21 minutes) from
biographer Jeffrey Vance. You also get 27 minutes of footage from the set of
The Great Dictator shot by Charlie's brother Sydney Chaplin, a short film
by Sydney entitled "King, Queen, Joker" (5 minutes), some deleted
scenes from the Chaplin film Sunnyside (in which Chaplin plays a barber),
the film's re-release trailer and a booklet featuring an essay by Michael Wood,
the aforementioned Chaplin article, an article by Jean Narboni on the film's
concluding speech and the original press book illustrations by Al
Hirschfeld.

The Rebuttal Witnesses

While Chaplin does have some fun verbal moments in his performance as Hynkel,
there are a number of times in which the addition of sound works against him.
This is largely due to the fact that Chaplin was not as skilled in terms of
writing clever dialogue as he was in staging clever set pieces, so there are
moments when his verbal jokes feel a little obvious. Consider a scene in which
Chaplin and his pal are flying upside down in a WWI fighter plane. There's some
great physical comedy in this scene that's a lot of fun to observe, but Chaplin
robs the sequence of some of its humor by having the characters comment on the
action and describe what is happening onscreen.

In addition, the comic set pieces tend to be shorter and further between
this time around. The sequence involving Hynkel and an inflatable globe is
definitely a classic, but in general the moments of physical comedy aren't quite
as ambitious as Chaplin's best work.

Finally, the romantic subplot between Chaplin and his spouse Paulette
Goddard proves disappointingly bland. The two had such fantastic chemistry
together in Modern Times; seeing
them interact onscreen was one of that film's many pleasures. Whether for
personal or artistic reasons (the couple split shortly after the film was
completed), Chaplin and Goddard simply weren't able to generate the same spark
together in The Great Dictator.

Closing Statement

The Great Dictator may not be one of Charlie Chaplin's best films, but
it's arguably his most important and certainly one of his most ambitious.
Criterion's excellent Blu-ray release makes it easy to recommend a purchase of
this impassioned, funny, bold Chaplin comedy.

The Verdict

Not guilty.

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